The Old Ways still required Heart Change

Colossians 2:11-12 "In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men, but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead."

Old ways of doing things are hard to give up.  What is the saying? "Old habits die hard." "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."  I am sure there are more that we can relate to.  This is what Paul was addressing and today many come to Christ feeling the weight of how to stop doing some of the things they know displease and grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).  It is sometimes easier to mask sinful ways, to go back to old religious traditions, as the Christians in Colossi would have chosen to do, if Paul didn't give them hope.  That hope is freedom in Christ.  Though living it out may be challenging, we are directed to make the decision.  We must offer our hearts to God, not simply look for religious acts to offer. That was absent from those trying to convince the new Jewish Christian converts that acts of tradition, absent heart change, would please God.

The decision is twofold - continue in our old ways of life, trying to please God in failure, ad nauseam.  The second - trust the work on the cross and allow the exchanged life of Christ in us to give us victory through His sanctification process (1Thess.4:3-7; 2 Thess. 2:13). The Jews in Colossi kept going back to the law and what they believed was their crown of religious prowess, which was circumcision.  They did not put weight on putting off sinful lifestyles.  

Many Christians believe that baptism is the crown, and after that beautiful sacrament, they continue to live their own lives their own way, thinking the power is in that one act, not in a lifestyle of "set-apartness."  These beliefs put Christ back on the cross, and His work has accomplished nothing for them.  They must move from sacrament to obedience. Sacrament without obedience is simply empty religion, without a change of the heart.

Those of us in Christ are the circumcised through a life of faith.  In Deuteronomy the Lord called for his people to not think that their outward circumcision was the end of all things, but that their inward circumcision would be the circumcision that changed their relationship with Him (Deuteronomy 10:16, 30:6).  Paul repeated that over and over in his epistles (Romans 2:25-29; 1 Corinthians 7:19; Galatians 5:6).  These are just a few passages where Paul is stressing a life in Christ is based on a life of faith and expressed in obedience.  God wants his children not to look at old ways and traditions as challenging to leave behind, because His Son's cross, resurrection, and the Holy Spirit change all things in us (2 Corinthians 5:17). We should be willing to renew our minds (Romans 12:2). Our thinking begins to change. We begin to see life differently, putting all our weight on Christ’s work on the cross ALONE.  

Yes, old dogs can learn new tricks when they know they have a master who will not leave them alone and will continue to probe at their hearts and their lives through discipline (Hebrew 12:5).  Those in Christ can't stay the same if they are truly in Christ, so eventually getting up and being changed is the only option, again for those truly in Christ. Being set in our ways, after accepting Christ is not an option.